Healing a Soul
by Uniasus
Summary: Sequel to Saving a Soul. Allen is no longer crucified on the iron cross, but the question still remains, can those wounds be healed?
1. Kanda

This is a follow up fic to Saving a Soul, which was inspired by the fic Broken White by Kithren. All characters belong to Hoshino Katsura.

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><p><span>Healing a Soul<span>

_By Uniasus_

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><p>He had noticed earlier, Walker's new little habit of staring at uninteresting things. Sometimes his expression wound be of horror, sometimes of shock, occasionally hostility, but as of late it had been the begrudged acceptance of something he couldn't change.<p>

Allen Walker was seeing things.

Which was something Kanda knew a bit about.

But his hallucinations were something he never shared with anyone, and it was likely Walker was of a similar mindset. Especially since it Walker's scared him. Kanda's was just annoying most of the time.

However, after what Kanda had seen a few nights ago, the condition of Walker's soul, perhaps talking about it would help Walker. Kanda refused to think of what his own soul in his own mind might look like. He was whole in Walker's mind, but that didn't mean anything.

Kanda made up his mind the day Walker woke up that the next time Walker was staring at whatever he was seeing, he would confront him. But now, Kanda held back. Walker was looking at the window in shock and puzzlement, with a slight frown on his face. It was different from how he normally looked when hallucinating.

"Walker," he said, and Walker jumped, looking over his shoulders to find Kanda leaning against the wall. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, I saw a really interesting bird fly by."

"Cut the crap." Kanda marched over to stand in front of him, drawing attention his height. Kanda was always taller, but now that Allen was in a wheelchair the difference was very obvious. "Lavi thinks you're thinking when you look out the windows and Lenalee thinks that you want to go outside more, that you feel cooped. But neither is the case, is it? You're looking _at_ the window. What do you see Allen?"

"Hey, you called me by name – "

"Answer the fucking question fucking bean sprout!"

"I don't see anything." Walker pushed on the wheels of the wheelchair in an attempt to get away, but Kanda grabbed the handles and pushed him the other way.

"Hey!" Walker exclaimed and Link's head poked out from the room a few feet away.

"Kanda, I can't allow you to take Walker," the blonde said.

"Tim, distract him," Kanda ordered, and the golden golem left his perch on Walker's lap to go annoy the Crow agent.

"Come back here , Tim!" Walker cried and tried to stop his wheelchair with his hands but Kanda slapped them away. The Japanese started power walking, pushing Walker until he found an empty room, gave Walker a hard push inside, and locked the door behind them after Timcampy zoomed in.

"What's your problem, BaKanda?"

"Stop lying."

"I told you, I didn't see anything, Kanda!"

"But you were expecting too." Kanda meant for it to be a question, but it sounded too harsh.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, plus there's nothing to talk about anyway." Walker rolled forward and reached for the lock; Kanda swatted his hand away. "Hey!"

"You're going to talk to me."

"Why the fuck do you care Kanda?"

"Because," Kanda huffed up and then deflated rapidly, turning his face away to hide his blush and barely pushed the words out of his mouth, "we're friends."

Walker stared at him in shock and then too seemed to deflate. They stood in the room for a bit of silence, neither looking at each other, until Walker gave in.

"Okay," he breathed. "Since you're asking."

Kanda blinked. What, no fight? Then again, Walker wasn't in any condition to even stand since he was missing a foot. And an ear. Tyki's explanation of souls crossed his mind, they _needed_ social contact. Was Walker's just so deprived it latched on the first one that came across? All he had to do was ask? No wonder Rhode had been pissed at him. Kanda pulled a chair over from a corner and set it in front of Walker before taking a seat.

Walker didn't look at him, he was too busy playing with Tim by stretching the golem's checks. "I, I _used_ to see something in anything reflective. Windows, the bathroom mirror, the silverware. And I wasn't hallucinating!" Walker looked up at Kanda as if to dare him to challenge the sentence. "Tim could see it too."

Walker went back to playing with the golem, and Kanda bit his tongue in an effort to be patient. "I saw…the 14th. I first noticed him in the 14th's room in the Ark, but he followed me here to headquarters. At first he was like what you would expect of a ghost, 65 aside, just a black silhouette with white eyes and mouth, fading to black spirals under his chest. But, he got bigger, more defined, and I found my own reflection…shrinking. As if the 14th was slowly destroying my soul, and I had no way to stop it."

Kanda flinched, because that was essentially what had been happening. And the Musician had been close to getting more than just Walker's soul if Tyki and Rhode hadn't shown up. Neah was too powerful for Kanda beat by himself. Walker however, didn't seem to realize the reality of his statement, or if he did that was for another conversation.

"And just a minute ago then, was the 14th gone?" Kanda hoped Rhode had been able to cut the connection between the Musician and Walker.

"N-no." Tim, having enough of Walker's ministrations, flew out of Walker's hands and landed on Kanda's head instead. Walker glared at the golden golem, but then began playing with his fingers and watching that instead. "But it's like how it was at the beginning now, with him being formless black, smiling and only hovering behind my reflection. He's even smaller now, half the size of me. It's a nice change."

Kanda frowned as he watched Walker continue to play with his fingers after finishing. So Rhode had only managed to partly close the connection between their minds. Which made Kanda's job that more harder. But if he could get Lavi and Lenalee to help, without telling them what he had seen – Walker's soul crucified behind an isolation barrier – that should help. Actually, all he would have to do would be encourage Walker to accept the subtle ways the others were trying to help. And maybe encourage them to prod Walker a little more. That would help him keep his image.

"You're not saying anything Kanda." Walker pointed out.

"Did you want me to?"

"Um, I'm not actually sure."

"Che, stupid beansprout."

"Hey! My name is Allen! And I know you know it!"

"Che." Kanda got up from his chair and walked over to the door. "It's almost lunch, you coming?"

He felt Timcampy flap his wings excitedly, and Walker's face changed to one Kanda had seen him use when analyzing strangers while on a mission. Shit, was he too obvious?

But Walker just smiled, a small grin, nothing spectacular, but Kanda was hard pressed to find any falseness to it like so many that had graced Walker's face lately.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Link was waiting outside the door, faint worry lines on his face and Kanda pegged him as another potential ally to help Walker as the Central agent came around to push Walker's wheelchair.

"Everything alright?" the inspector asked his charge, and Walker tilted his head back to give a true smile at the older male.

"It's all good Link."

Link however didn't seem to believe him and glanced at Kanda out of the edge of his eye, wary and strangely protective of the teen he was pushing.

"Che, we just talked."

"Talked?" Link echoed, confused.

"I know, who would have thought Kanda could hold a conversation?"

"Watch it, beansprout."

"It's Allen!"

Link just smiled softly. In Kanda's head, he cursed out Walker. All these people who cared for him, and Walker wouldn't let them help. The white haired boy was stupid, that's for sure. But today, today was a step in the right direction he thought. The first of many.

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><p><strong>AN:** So, I'm thinking about more companion one shots from other POV's breaking from Kanda's for a bit (hey, he had a full 20 pages to himself!), but they weren't written with SaS, as this one was. I just kinda decided to split this up, with the potential idea of a multi-chap follow up, and I think I will. But don't expect consistent updates or anything. I'm sure most of you know I'm not known for that, which is why I've been leaning towards one-shots.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this. Review if you love me!


	2. Link

Healing a Soul

_By Uniasus_

**Link**

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><p>Allen had once compared him to another piece of furniture in the room. It made sense of a sort; he was always hovering in the background to the point where his black uniform blended into the wall even if his blonde hair didn't. After following Allen around for months now, he was as commonplace as the bed the teen slept on.<p>

Personally, Howard didn't agree. Furniture, while something you grew accustomed to and an item that didn't respond to much, was at least used. Chairs were sat on, beds slept in, and desks written on. Howard didn't serve any purpose at all. He was more like a forgotten stuffed animal on the highest shelf of a kid's bedroom.

Lvellier had a use for him, tracking Allen's actions to make sure the young exorcist wouldn't do anything to betray the Order. But it was essentially a useless task. In the seven months Howard had been following Allen the teen hadn't shown any such actions. And now, for some reason, Allen and the Musician were separated. There was no real reason to watch over the white haired exorcist.

Not that Howard didn't still want to watch over his fellow teen. Allen had shown a slow slide into depression. He glared at mirrors with empty resignation when he had to use them, like brushing his teeth in the communal bathroom, but in other cases he had stopped. As a result, Allen wasn't as immaculate as before. His tie was more off center than not, he sometimes missed a bit when washing his face, and his hair was rather frayed. Though that could be blamed on Timcampy's new nighttime habit of chewing it.

The exorcist was also all around gloomy, spending time staring out windows while humming and torturing Tim. He also listened a lot to General Cross's golem message, though Howard didn't know the teen's thoughts on it. Allen never talked about those out loud. They weren't happy though, that's for sure.

Howard had been so pleased when Allen had mentioned Mana in his presence after the episode with Timothy. Due to all their time together he had come to like Allen, the teen who despite having gone through a lot of trauma could still smile. An exorcist who cared for the akuma he killed just as equally as the friends he fought along side. A person whose past he could relate to.

He liked to call Allen his friend, deep in the recesses of his mind where his orders and commitment to them weren't in control. But that was a dangerous thought and so Howard didn't act on it. In fact he purposely acted cold to keep up the watchdog persona and prevent it from slipping. He didn't ask about Allen's welfare or try to engage him in conversation.

When Allen had been taken by the Noah, his heart ached on behalf of the exorcist. Hadn't he been through enough? But it also ached with Howard's own pain. He hadn't been able to help Allen, that was all Kanda, and he desperately wanted to be of some type of service. He wanted to help his friend, though now that he thought about it, he wasn't too sure if Allen thought of him as the same.

"What do you think of me?" he blurted out.

Allen, who had been helping with paperwork across the table from Howard, paused and blinked at him at the sound of the question. There was still a bandage around his head, but it didn't help him forget Allen was lacking his left ear.

"Sorry?"

"What's your opinion of me?"

"Well, you like sweets far more than anyone should," the white haired teen shrugged. "You're loyal, work hard, good to have by my side in a fight. Why?"

Howard hmmed and turned his attention back to the work in front of him, not answering Allen's question and partially pleased by the answer. But it had been lacking anything referring to friendship.

Two days later Yu Kanda pulled him aside on his way to the bathroom to get ready in the morning.

"How's….how's Walker doing?" he asked, as if he had never asked a similar question before. Actually, he probably hadn't.

"Fine." Howard made to move around the Japanese man but Kanda moved with him.

"Don't give me that bullshit surface level stuff. How is he doing, really?"

Howard didn't know if it was the fact that Kanda didn't call Allen or himself by a nickname, the fact that he asked twice, or the slightly out of place look in his eyes, but he could tell Kanda was serious.

"I don't know."

"Bullshit, you're his friend, aren't you?"

Hope's wings fluttered in his heart and then snapped as he realized the unlikeliness of that. He shook his head. "No, just his watcher."

"You do realize that he lets you push his wheelchair, right?"

Howard nodded.

"He doesn't let me do that. Or the rabbit or Lenalee."

"So?"

"He also smiles at you."

"Walker smiles at everyone."

"But not all the ones he gives you are fake."

Something in Howard relaxed. "You've noticed those too?"

Kanda gave his characteristic 'che'. "Yes, I've noticed. It's kinda fucking hard not to."

"For you maybe, others miss it."

"True." Kanda crossed his arms and than steered the conversation back. "He sees you as a friend, allows you to help with things the most. You may not think so, but I think you're the closest one of all of us to Walker right now."

Howard opened his mouth to protest. "He talked to you earlier this week. He wouldn't talk me." And Allen seemed happier this week, despite his run-in with the 14th. It was all due to Kanda.

"I asked him to talk to me. Did you ask?"

"No."

"Che, Walker's not one for asking for helping. But if it's offered, he usually won't turn it down. And let me tell you a little secret," Kanda uncrossed his arms and leaned forward a bit. Howard found himself leaning forward too as a result. "Walker can't afford to turn it down."

The exorcist pulled back and Howard frowned, questions developing in his head.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Kanda however just walked away, leaving Howard to reanalyze every interaction he had with Allen in the past week. Maybe the Japanese was right. And he didn't have to ask Allen soul-searching questions just yet. A simple 'how are you doing today' would suffice. He never asked it before, not wanting to appear soft and give Lvellier the impression he was fond of Allen. But behind close doors, how was he to know? Lvellier's information on Allen all came through Howard, and if it wasn't important to his mission there was no reason for the Central agent to know.

Allen needed a friend, it would save him from the cloud of depression he was in more often than not and help save Timcampy. It might also save him, as there was no one else at Headquarters who might see Howard as a friend.

He turned on his heel and went to find his charge.

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><p><strong>AN:** This chapter was supposed to be Lavi, but then Link was like 'um, no, I don't think so' and Kanda was like 'let him go so I don't have to do something embarrassing so soon'. So yes, here is Link's part. I don't actually know how long Link has been following Allen, I just kinda threw seven months out there. Estimating by seasons is kinda hard when the characters don't stay in one place all the time :/ But I wanna say the Ark arc was in the spring, and then we jump to December so~.

But the bottom line is, I do really think that Link is the closest friend to Allen at the later part of the series. For awhile he was the only one (besides Lavi) who knew everything, as Allen kept quite, and I'm pretty sure even after everyone found out he's the 14th only Link has seen him brooding and thus he know intimate things about Allen the exorcist hasn't shared with anyone else. Even if he was just talking to the furniture in the room ^_~


	3. Lenalee

Healing a Soul

_By Uniasus_

**Lenalee**

Kanda sat down across from them, no lunch, just a stone tea cup and a kettle filled with tea.

"How are you today, Kanda?" Lenalee asked.

"Okay. Yourself?"

"Pretty good. There was a robin on my window sill this morning. Spring is coming."

He didn't respond, just poured his tea and took a sip.

These past two weeks Kanda had been acting weird. Maybe that was too extreme. Different for sure though. He actually used words, not 'che', and whenever she asked at his well-being he returned the sentiment and seemed to listen to her response.

Lenalee found it a nice change of pace. Lavi thought Jerry was putting calming drugs in his tea, on behalf of the Science Department.

She turned her attention to her chips and answered Lavi's questions about her up coming mission. Brother was sending her to Russia tomorrow.

"You should visit the beansprout before you go." Kanda interjected.

Lenalee turned to look at him. The samurai seemed sharp, and there was a weight to his statement that she normally did see him associate with Allen.

"I will. I saw him last night too. He seems to be doing better."

"Seems? Or is?"

Seems, but the thought that she didn't know exactly what was up with Allen made her flustered. "Is. They took the head wrap off, now he's just got a large pad on the side of his head."

"Che." Kanda downed his tea. "That so?" He stood up and left, leaving the cup and kettle.

Lenalee watched him go, and it seemed to her that he knew she had fibbed. But what was she to do? Ever since the Ark Allen seemed to be slowly, well not pushing people away per say, but shutting them out. He had never been one to open up to people, no one really knew about Mana or his time with Cross, and had taken to hiding for an hour at a time in the Ark. She had noticed his appearance no longer was as immaculate as it had been when he joined, but that was to be expected. He was going through a tough time, needed to figure things out by himself. When he was ready, he would tell her things.

Only, he never did.

And Lenalee had shifted some of her time with him to be with Lavi and her brother because she felt more of a connection there.

The resulted showed. It was Link who realized he was missing that day, when the Fourteenth appeared. No one else had even noticed for a full half a day.

Kanda's attitude rubbed her wrong. He was no better, but she'd show him!

"I'm going to see Allen," she declared, interrupting Lavi mid-sentence and standing up.

"Oh, okay," the red head said, confused.

She gave her plates to a kitchen assistant and made her way to Allen's quarters.

But he wasn't there, nor in Link's. She checked out other rooms on the same floor, Link's office, the medical ward, one of the lounges. Being wheelchair bound made it hard for Allen to travel between levels and thus he usually didn't leave the second floor, even taking his meals in his room, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

With a sigh, she turned to look out the window. And lo and behold, in the garden below was Allen and Link.

She flew out the window and landed right below, far enough away not to disturb them. Link had laid out a blanket on the grass and both were sitting on it. Well, Allen was lying on his belly beneath a blanket while Link sat beside him, also dressed for the chilly early spring day. The blonde Crow was pointing to the book in front of Allen and the teen was talking. As she started walking towards them, she realized he was reading.

"and being...bound up...I shall be...be cast out by the a,angles for my gar,garment?" Link nodded and Allen continued "is not a...wedding garment. In your love Lord...cleanse my soul and save me."

"Good," the Crow said and Allen flipped the page to continue. As he did so, he saw her.

"Lenalee, how are you?"

"Excited for spring. What are you doing?" She sat down across from Allen, legs curled under her.

Allen blushed in embarrassment. "I'm very bad at letters. Link's helping me improve. When helping him with paperwork, I've made so many mistakes sorting. This way, I can be more useful."

Link snorted. "There's more benefits to reading than being useful to me."

"But it's the most immediate one. You help me, I help you, it's what friends do." Allen smiled at the blonde, and Link smiled back. Lenalee's heart clenched, she hadn't seen him smile that way in a while. When had the two become so close?

"Mind if I listen?"

"Not at all," Allen answered. Link produced another blanket and she used it to cover her legs. She curled up on her side and watched Allen read as Link's fingers moved across the page. Like this, she could tell Allen was doing better, not just guess at it.

Take that Kanda.

**A/N:** Um...so its been awhile since I touched this fic. A long while. Sorry to any readers out there who have been waiting, but here's a new chapter, just for you! Just one more chapter to go ^_^

Allen is reading from the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, what you're supposed to read to before partaking in communion.


	4. Lavi

Healing a Soul

_By Uniasus_

**Lavi**

Allen had gone through a hard time the past few months, that incident with the Fourteenth a few weeks ago hopefully the last of it. But surprisingly it seemed like the event had effected Kanda more that Allen.

Well, sure Allen was minus a foot and an ear, that was pretty major, but he didn't come back from the encounter depressed or anything like the last time he had been taken into the Ark. He just seemed...a lot more fond of Link. And Two-Spot seemed to return the affection. Huh.

Kanda though, there was a mystery. Cool, aloof Kanda who only paid attention to Mugen and green tea was suddenly, well, paying attention to more than that. He answered the questions, with words, that most people asked. And asked his own that didn't relate to missions in one way or another.

He also seemed hyper aware of Allen. When he was nearby, Kanda's eyes followed him and the samurai always seemed to have an idea of where he was. Lavi had seen him on the second floor quite a bit, and suspected that he visited the silver exorcist at least as often as Lenalee – once a day. Unheard of for Kanda. And then, yesterday he had noticed Timcampy sitting in the samurai's hair, making a little hammock just above Kanda's ponytail.

It was such a drastic change something had had to have happened to him. But it wasn't the drastic sort Komui usually had a hand in, cat ears or turning green. This was something personal, and Lavi wanted to find out what.

Kanda seemed to sense that and avoided him when ever possible, and his new loose lips returned to 'che' tightness whenever Lavi asked a question that slightly dived into his personal life.

That is, until Lavi caught him red handed in the library. He was in the self help section, looking at titles but he had already collected several. They sat on a wheeled cart beside him. As Lavi watched, Kanda took a book down, flipped through it, and deeming it good started a new pile on the cart.

"Whatcha doing, Yu-chan?"

Kanda whipped around and would have drawn Mugen if the book aisles weren't too narrow.

"Fuck off, Rabbit."

"Now, that's not very nice. And what do you have here? Plato, How to be a Friend, Understand Relationships, a few fiction titles, the Essence of the Soul, The Inner Self, Mynd, Spyryt, Soul, Understanding Yourself, How to Keep Ties Strong, Finding a Best Friend, The Art of Alchemy...Kanda, what is all this?"

"Books."

"For light reading?" He picked up Mynd, Spyryt, and Soul. The book was three fingers thick and promised to be in Medieval English.

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

Lavi expected Kanda to snap back at him, but calling Kanda out on his lie seemed to strike something inside and the other exorcist just sighed in defeat. He turned his attention back to the books in front of him, finger hovering over a book titled Staying Healthy in Mind and Body. Lavi watched Kanda scroll through the table of contents, mutter 'useless', and put it back.

"Is this about Allen?" he guessed.

Kanda stiffened but then relaxed. "Help me get these to my room?"

"Sure."

The ran into Lenalee on the way to his room, fresh from Russia. "You better come too," Kanda said to her, "your report can wait."

She sent Lavi a confused look, but he just shook his head.

Lavi and Lenalee took seats on his bed and started at Kanda while he leaned against his closed door. Lavi noticed another pile of books next to Kanda's pillow.

Lenalee shifted. "Kanda, what's going on?"

Kanda looked at Lavi though. "What do you know of souls?"

"That people have them. And some of them are said to be attractive to one another, soul-mates."

"What do you know about souls, Bookman?"

He stiffened, because all of a sudden this conversation got serious. Kanda was a second exorcist, a transplanted soul, was something wrong? But no, it had to be something about Allen based on his other behavior.

"I...know a lot of theories, but no one's been able to really prove anything. But it's believed that they are our true essence and every living creature has one. Some would argue inanimate objects have them too. Our soul determines our form here on this plan of existence, but they are thought to mainly reside on another. They're what makes us, ultimately, us. It's thought our memories and experience, when mixed with our soul, form our spirit. Spirit and soul co-exisit, and it's the mind that provides an outlet and home for it, lets us think and theorize and interact with others. But, it's possible for someone to have a mind and no soul, people who are alive but can't function on their own. Souls are thought to be what goes to afterlife, be it good or bad based on the actions we do in life."

Kanda held a hand up for silence, and Lavi shut his mouth. "I think I've got a pretty good understand of what they are, but how do they work? How do they...stay healthy?"

"Again, theory. Mental stimulation, a good life, morals, a social life. A lack of it is said to be detrimental."

Kanda scowled at the floor, but he didn't seem entirely surprised by what Lavi said. "Mental stimulation? Like what?"

"Learning, strategy games, riddles. Art even. Things that get you to think."

"Huh. So chess is good."

"That be an example."

"Maybe I should learn too."

"Kanda," Lenalee broke in, "what is all this?"

The older teen sighed and moved to his desk to claim the chair. "I told you that Rhode and Tyki started fighting the Musician and during the battle I scooped up Allen and ran. That's...not entirely true. I followed him, fought, but lost. Rhode and Tyki scared him off, that's true, but when Rhode took stock of Walker's condition she mentioned his soul was somewhere else. Something about how Walker's and the Fourteenth's souls were connected, and the Fourteenth was using that to hurt him.

"She took me to Walker's mind, it's not very pretty I'll have you know. Very dark, with ruins scattered everywhere. Rhode said something about him being connected to two minds, but one was harmless. The other one, to the Fourteenth, obviously isn't. He had taken Walker to this area between them, and..."

Lavi never thought he'd see a haunted look on Kanda's face. But there is was, directed towards the floor and hard to see, but still there.

"We found him, found him crucified on a cross by eight swords and barbed chain. And there was a barrier, we couldn't get to it. Rhode kicked me out of his mind. But the barrier feel that night and she took me back. With Tyki, we managed to get him and back into his own mind, and Rhode did her best to close the connection.

"Walker was, if all the wounds his soul had were on his body he's be dead. There were so many, and not just cuts. Gashes, burns, his palms and feet were mutilated. It was hard to look at." Kanda swallowed, and Lavi could see how much the sight had effected him. After all, he was doing all the researched and spending time with Allen.

"Rhode said it was the Orders fault that he was like that. Most of the wounds are old, the Fourteenth did very little damage himself but he liked to pick at them. Rhode said, said that a soul feeds on social contact. Every time some one hurts us, our soul is wounded. But positive contact, friends, work as a healing balm. It takes a long time to heal a soul's wound apparently, and with Walker having so many old ones with no signs of healing she blamed us all here at the Order. If the Fourteenth hadn't taken him, and we never thought to enter his mind, his soul couldn't have lasted must longer."

"Leaving the Noah to take over Allen's mind and body." Lavi guessed.

"I never knew." Lenalee was crying, silent fat tears running down her face.

Lavi put her arm around her. "Not your fault, none us did." He turned his attention back to Kanda. "That's why you've been so friendly lately. You're trying help him heal."

Kanda nodded. "It would be troublesome if the Musician took control. And...he's a friend. I suppose I would miss him if he died. And I can't help but wonder what my own soul looks like, and I feel like being friends helps both of us. I haven't been a very good one. I want to learn though."

"We haven't been very good either," Lenalee sniffled, "based on what you said Allen looked like. Let's go see him, now."

Lavi felt his chest twinge. No, he hadn't been a good friend. He hadn't come to the Order to make any, a Bookman was supposed to just observe. But he had missed this entirely, and perhaps his actions had led to part of it. At the very least, he should try to fix it a little bit. To balance it out.

"Okay."

They found him napping in his room, Link reading a book at a chair near his head. Lenalee slipped in first, ignoring the Crow to slip into Allen's bed and tuck him to her breast. He mummered sleepily.

Link was positively aghast. "M-Miss Lee, what do you think you're doing?"

"Providing social contact. It's a friend thing."

Link just blinked at her.

"Really?" Kanda stepped into the room and got on the other side of the bed, facing Allen's back. Before he got comfortable, he pulled on Link's wrist. "Come on, you're the best friend at the moment."

Link just gaped like a fish, but ultimately complied and got in next to Kanda. Lavi settled behind Lenalee. From his position, he could see Timcampy nestled under Allen's chin.

"Hey Tim?" he said, closing his eyes, "Make sure you get a recording of this."

**A/N:** And we're done! Allen's got help from multiple angles, and ideally the results will be mutual. All four of them (five, can't forget Link!) have incidents that've plagued them for years. I can't help but feel that they all rely heavily on avoiding issues when possible and don't take proper advantage of having a support system near by who will understand better than anyone. There's more to friendship that working together and avoiding Komui's projects, or even eating lunch in a cafeteria together. It's about connections and support and about time they started doing it on multiple levels. (I'm highly proud of Johnny and Kanda for going after Allen.)

So, reviews on my little fic here? I have to say, I enjoyed writing Kand's ministrations in the second and third chapters.


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